Our Monday Night Blind Wine Dinner Group enjoyed another fabulous evening with 4 of us in attendance and a typical wine theme of one bringing a sparkling wine, another a white and 2 others a red.
With a wide open theme like we have, anything is possible and often we struggle just to ID the varietal/ blend, let alone all of the other particulars of each wine. This night was no different.
We started off with the bubbly being poured under the table for maximum discreetness and all 3 of us had it as a new world brut sparkling wine with more Pinot Noir than Chardonnay from a young vintage like 2018 and a dosage of from 6-8 gpl and more in particular, I eventually guessed it to be a 2019 Roederer Estate L’Ermitage which is 52% Chardonnay to 48% Pinot Noir and it was:
2008 DOM PERIGNON BRUT- blind; 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay; the color was a yellow green suggesting youthfulness to me; the nose was an attention getter as it was fully loaded with citrus in the form of orange zest, grapefruit and lime; on the palate, honey and spice provided just the right accents while its was being delivered in an oily textured medium; this was super rich, full bodied with depth and complexity and the texture had some weight that added to its power and massiveness; I thought about the power of 2008 champagnes, but only that as this just seemed to be so big and thrustful, I went with CA new world possibilities which were obviously way wrong.
2014 DOMAINE DARVOT-PERRIN les BLANCHOTS DESSEUS CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- blind; this was a mellow, yellow, wonderful wine that exuded elegance, finesse and charm while pleasing the sensory receptors with amazing tantalizing sensations; contributing to all of this was its soft and smooth mouthfeel especially at the end noting its last impression; it had nice white flowers, spices and a predominant yellow apple flavor throughout; this was stately wine made from a lesser known producer who is evidently making some great wines as offered by the one who brought it. To me, it was clearly a white Burgundy that epitomized the definition of “lovely” and some voice inside said Chassagne, but I would not have bet on it.
2014 DOMAINE LATOUR-GIRAUD CUVEE des PIERRE MEURSAULT-GENEVRIERES 1er Cru- blind; the color was a gold to browning which suggested oxidative effects, but the nose did not have any aromas of such with mild ginger coated apricot and yellow peach most evident; neither did the taste profile as it had more of the same plus a dollop of honey, vanilla and apple; it had nice body and length and a bit of power, but not enough for me to call it a Corton-Charlemagne, but it surely had to be a white Burg.
One of our members astutely noticed the DIAM cork for the Darvot-Perrin and the “regular” cork employed by Latour- Giraud and we theorized the pre-mox possibility for the latter that still remains to be seen IMHO.
2006 TENUTA SAN GUIDO SASSICAIA BOLGHERI- served bind to the others; decanted 3 hours; I knew this was my bring as the other bottle was super heavy and as I eventually discovered, had an atypical deep punt; the color was a youthful, dark, vibrant red purple and the nose offered a welcoming invitation with talc and sandalwood accented black currant being most evident; once tasted, it was clear this was a serious wine with lots of complexity and energy that gave some delicious flavors with a fruit profile made up of red and black currant and cranberry; it had a silky smooth texture and a long finish with a little dryness that suggested to me some tannin integration is still needed; this is comprised of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, was fermented in stainless vats and aged 24 months in French oak with an additional 6 months in bottle prior to release; and overall, I’m guessing this is better opened after 2030.
2003 LUCIEN LE MOINE CLOS de la ROCHE GRAND CRU- blind; initially, this had a strong pyrazine green bell pepper character plus some eucalyptus and briary notes that had me thinking Bordeaux, but after 10-15 minutes, it all blew off and nice red raspberry and red cherry fruit showed up in this full bodied and complex wine and now I’m thinking red Burgundy and I knew the producer after feeling the deep punt and bottle weight through the brown bag when pouring seconds; it was silky smooth and left a good impression with a long finish with everything coming together; one of our members got stem inclusion which may have contributed to the briary character I picked up; nonetheless, it was a really good wine that needed lots of time to show its attributes; not decanted, but highly recommended.
Another great night with the gang and I remain grateful for this wonderful experience with righteously good people, food and wines.
Cheers,
Blake
